Timeline+for+Gatsby

Add dates, events and explain significance to "The Great Gatsby" below in chronological order:

Ask yourself, why are these events significant? Add the explanation after the event.

1630: John Winthrop's Model of Christian Charity--

1776: Declaration of Independence is signed

1836: This is the year that Charles Darwin returned to England with data to develop his theory of evolution- This is significant because it leads to the "survival of the fittest" idea which is part of "The Great Gatsby"

1850: Herbert Spencer--Social Darwinism and Survival of the Fittest.

1859:__ [|US] __ congressman [|Daniel Sickles] shoots [|Philip Barton Key] for having an affair with his wife.- Exact same thing occurs at the end of the novel to Gatsby by Wilson.

1861: Civil War begins.

1865: Civil War ends.

1893: Frederick Jackson Turner's Speech--United States will never be the same as a result of closed frontier. Part of being an American is the self made man and how Americans staked their claim of land. Since there is no more land to be claimed, Americans will not be the same.

1896: F. Scott Fitzgerald born

1914: World War 1 begins- This event is significant because Gatsby, Nick, and Fitzgerald fought in the war.

1917- Fitzgerald joins the army. This is significant because after WW1 he became part of the "Lost Generation", which inspired many of his writings.

1918: Jazz Age starts up; WWI ends. The US goes into isolation and on the surface everything appears great, and many people have "lots" of money now and buying stocks is a very popular thing because everyone wants to be rich too (american dream).

1919: World Series; Black Sox Scandal- In the novel, Wolfsheim was rumored to have been involved in the scandal. He and Gatsby were in business together, and Nick becomes curious about how Gatsby earned his fortune/money.

1920: Prohibition began in the U.S. -- In the novel, Gatsby illegally sells alcohol and is able to obtain enough money to purchase a home just across the bay from Daisy 19th Amendment allowing for womans rights to vote. This is important because women like Daisy and Jordan have more rights now, and allows them to be independent, for example with Daisy and she doesn't "need" him and openly mocks him in public. Fitzgerald marries Zelda Sayre.

1922: T.S. Elliot's "The Wasteland"- contained a great paradox in the first line, "April is the cruelest month" as April symbolizes a new beginning. This is also the year when __The Great Gatsby__ takes place.

1925: The Great Gatsby is first published.

1929: Jazz Age diminishes: the stock market crash

1933: Prohibition, also thought as the noble experiment, ended in the U.S., bringing irony and disapointment to American society.